1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical plug-and-socket connector having first and second connector parts which each have a chamber housing for respectively holding complementary first and second electrical contact elements in which the first part has a latching element and the second part has a catch with the latching element reaching behind the catch when the two parts are connected with one another to prevent withdrawal of the parts from one another.
2. Background Art
Such electrical plug-and-socket connectors are used, among other places, in the automotive area. For example, such a connector is used to make contact with an actuator to activate a throttle valve of an internal combustion engine. A first part of the connector is a receptacle housing and a second part of the connector is a plug housing. The plug housing has a collar to protect its contacts which are arranged inside the collar.
In the prescribed embodiment, the plug housing is installed in a fixed location and the receptacle housing is at a free end of a connection cable harness. The receptacle housing includes a latching hook whose section that angles off from a contact spring represents the actual latching element. The latching hook itself is an integral part of the receptacle housing so that the necessary elasticity of the latching hook results from its material elasticity. On the outside, the plug housing has a catch which the latching element of the latching hook reaches behind after the two connector parts are properly connected. This serves as security against withdrawal.
When the receptacle housing is pushed onto the plug housing, the latching element is pressed away in the outward direction against the material elasticity resulting from the latching hook. The latching hook snaps back after passing the catch so that the latching element is then in its intended locked position in which it reaches behind the catch. There has to be axial play between the latching element of the latching hook and the catch in order for such snapping back to occur.
However, such axial play has a detrimental effect on the electrical connection between the contact elements of the first and second connector parts, especially if there are vibrations acting on the connector, as is the case when the connector is arranged directly on an internal combustion engine. This impairment can occur above all when only small or the smallest currents are being transferred.
Given the tolerances that have to be accepted during the manufacture of the two connector parts, the axial play has to also be dimensioned so that given unfavorable manufacturing tolerances axial play is present between the two connector parts to ensure the intended latching of the latching element.